Drapery traverse rod and pulley housing therefor



1967 P. L. KENNEY I 3,337,903

DRAPERY TRAVERSE ROD AND PULLEY HOUSING THEREFOR Filed Sept. 22, 1965 [N VEN TOR. PHILIP l KENNEY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,337,903 DRAPERY TRAVERSE ROD AND PULLEY HOUSING THEREFOR Philip L. Kenney, Cheshire, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Sept. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 489,291 12 Claims. (Cl. 1687.4)

This invention relates to drapery traverse rods, and more particularly concerns the pulley housings located at the ends of such rods.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved pulley housing for drapery traverse rods comprising low cost sheet metal parts formed to provide superior strength and ease of assembly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drapery rod pulley housing arranged to retain the usual drapery glide members on the rod and also to facilitate their removal from the rod when this proves to be necessary.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drapery traverse rod embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the parts as they appear when a drapery glide member is being removed;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary end view of the drapery traverse rod.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the drapery traverse rod 19 comprises a pair of telescoping track sections 12, 14 at the ends of which are mounted a pair of substantially identical pulley housings 16, 18. The traverse rod is supported in spaced relation from a window 20 by means of a pair of end mounting brackets 22, 24 which extend into the end portions of the pulley housings 16, 18 respectively in supporting engagement therewith. The end mounting brackets 22, 24 may be secured to the adjacent wall surface surrounding the window frame 20 or to the window frame 20 by suitable fasteners as shown. A pair of drapery carriers 26, 28 and a suitable number of drapery glide members 30 are mounted for sliding movement along the traverse rod 10 and a pull cord 32 is inter-connected with the drapery carriers 26, 28 so as to cause draperies supported in the usual manner on the carriers 26, 28 and the glide members 30 to be opened and closed as desired.

The pulley housing 16 comprises a front wall 34, a top wall 36 and an end wall 38 all integrally formed from a single metal stamping shaped and folded into the configuration best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. As shown therein, the lower portion 37 of the end wall 38 is formed integrally with the front wall 34 and is bent rearwardly at right angles to the front wall 34 and upper portion 39 of the end wall 38 is formed integrally with top wall 36 and is bent downwardly at right angles to the top wall 36, the two portions being secured together without the use of conventional fasteners by an interlocking tongue arrangement comprising the tongue 40 on the upper portion 39 and the tongue 41 on lower portion 37.

The pulley housing 16 is provided with a channel section 46 which is shaped so as to receive the end of the track section 12 in telescoping relationship with the end of the track abutting a depressed tab 45 formed in the channel section 46, and the resilient detent tongue 47 disposed in the aperture 13 to latch the track section 12 to pulley housing 16.

In order to secure the pulley housing 16 to the end mounting bracket 22, the housing includes a flange 48 extending downwardly from the top wall 36 adjacent the end wall 38 and flange 50 extending upwardly from the lower edge portion of the end wall 38 so as to define a channel in which the free end of the mounting bracket 22 may be secured. For this purpose, a spring arm 52 secured to the top wall 36 and extending downwardly along the end wall 38 so that its lower end portion engages a notch 23 in the lower edge of the mounting bracket 22. As illustrated, the end of arm 52 projects through an aperture 53 in the bottom of the channel formed by the flange 50. This arrangement, together with the engaging surfaces between 40 and 41, reinforce the pulley housing against horizontal loading resulting, for example, from a force exerted on pull cord 32 in manipulating the draperies; it being understood that a forward horizontal force on the bottom of front wall 34 will cause the edges of notch 23 of mounting bracket 22 to engage the arm 52 which will in turn engage the edge of aperture 53 of flange 50 to aid in maintaining the upper and lower portions 39, 37 of wall 38 in interlocked relationship. (See FIG. 6.)

A pair of pulley shafts 54, 56 are rigidly secured to the front wall 34 of the pulley housing 16 and are arranged to provide support for a main pulley 58 and a guide pulley 60. The pulleys 58, 60 are retained within the pulley housing 16 by a cover plate 62 having a pair of apertures 64, 66 through which the end of the pulley shafts 54, 56 extend and a tab 68 positioned in a slot 70 which straddles a dimple 71 on the top wall 36. Preferably the portion of the dimple 71 adjacent the front wall 34 is depressed below the top wall 36 a slightly greater amount than the portion of the dimple 71 on the opposite side of slot 70. The cover plate 62 is secured in place with the edges of the apertures 64, 66 bottomed on shoulders 55, 57 of shafts 54, 56 by a spring clip .72 formed to engage circumferential grooves 73, 75 adjacent the free end portions of the pulley s'hafts 54, 56. In this manner the cover plate 62 functions to retain the pulleys 58, 60 within the pulley housing 16 and also provide support for the free ends of the pulley shafts 54, 56.

Because the traverse rod 10 may be adjusted in length to fit windows of various widths, the number of glide members 30 required to support a particular drapery panel varies in accordance with the width of the panel. Accordingly, it is sometimes desirable to remove one or more of the glide members 30 from the traverse rod 10, and for this purpose the cover plate 62 is formed with an integral flexible glide stop member 74 which extends into close proximity to the end of the track section 12 secured to the pulley housing 16. The glide stop member 74 is formed with an enlarged end portion 76 which normally obstructs the end of the track section 12 and thus prevents the glide members 30 from being shifted out of the track section 12 during use. However, when it is necessary to remove one or more of the glide members 30, the glide stop member 74 may be easily depressed from its normal position shown in FIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. 4 in which it is deflected sufficiently to permit removal of as many of the glide members 30 as may be desired. In order to prevent the glide stop member 74 from being depressed so far that it might take a permanent set and be incapable of performing its stop function, its root portion 78 is bent sufiiciently away from the plane of the cover plate 62 to shorten the glide stop member so that the enlarged end portion 76 overlies the edge of the cover plate 62 and thus the glide stop member 74 can only be depressed the limited amount illustrated in FIG. 4.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that this invention provides an improved drapery traverse rod pulley housing which is low in cost, and high in strength, and which is easily assembled and disassembled, being formed principally of thin stamped sheet metal parts which may be rapidly assembled to form a structure capable of performing all of its required functions. In addition, there is provided a simple and substantially foolproof arrangement for retaining drapery glide members in place along their track while at the same time permitting such glide members to be easily and quickly removed when desired.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pulley housing for a drapery traverse rod comprising top, front, and end Walls formed from a single sheet metal stamping, said end wall having anupper portion formed by a downwardly bent extension of the top wall and a lower portion formed by a rearwardly bent extension of the front wall, said upper portion and lower portion having interlocking tongues for securing the same together, a pulley shaft rigidly secured to and extending perpendicularly from an intermediate point of said front wall, a back wall for said housing secured to said top wall and having an aperture therein for receiving the free end of the pulley shaft.

2. A pulley housing as recited in claim 1 wherein said pulley shaft is provided with a shoulder for engaging the edge of the aperture of the rear wall and a spring clip engaging a groove on the end of the pulley shaft secures the back wall thereto.

3. A pulley housing for a drapery traverse rod comprising top, front, and end walls formed from a single sheet metal stamping, said end wall having an upper portion formed by a downwardly bent extension of the top wall and a lower portion formed by a rearwardly bent extension of the front wall, said upper portion and lower portion having interlocking tongues for securing the same together, a pulley shaft rigidly secured to and extending perpendicularly from an intermediate point of said front wall, said shaft having a shoulder and a groove adjacent the free end thereof, and a plate forming a back wall for said housing, said plate having an aperture for receiving the free end of said shaft, a spring clip engageable with the groove of said shaft for holding said plate in assembled position, said plate further having a tab on the upper edge thereof engageable with a slot in the top wall of said housing.

4. The pulley housing as set forth in claim 3 wherein said slot in said top wall straddles a depressed dimple,

the portion of the dimple on the front side of said slot I being depressed below the top wall a slightly greater distance than the portion of the dimple on the rear side of said slot.

5. A pulley housing for the end of a drapery traverse rod comprising front, top and end Walls forming a unitary structure, said top wall having a slot therein, a pair of pulley shafts each secured at one end to said front wall, a pair of pulleys each mounted on one of said shafts, a

. retainer plate for said pulleys, said plate having a pair of apertures for receiving the free ends of said shafts, a spring clip engageable with the free ends of said shafts for holding said retainer plate in place, and a tab on the upper edges of said retainer plate engageable with said slot in said top wall.

6. A drapery traverse rod comprising an elongated track having a longitudinal open-ended slot therein, a plurality of drapery glide members mounted on said track for longitudinal sliding movement in said slot, and a pulley housing secured to the end of said track comprising front, top and end walls forming a unitary structure, said top wall having a slot therein, a pair of pulley shafts each secured at one end to said front wall, a pair of pulleys each mounted on one of said shafts, a retainer plate for said pulleys, said plate having a pair of apertures for receiving the free ends of said shafts, a spring clip engageable with the free ends of said shafts for holding said retainer plate in place, and a tab on the upper edge of said retainer plate engageable with said slot in said top wall.

7. A drapery traverse rod comprising an elongated track. having a longitudinal open-ended slot therein, a plurality of drapery glide members mounted on said track for longitudinal sliding movement along said slot, and a pulley housing having a configuration complementary to the end of the track and telescopically receiving the same, said housing comprising top, front, and end walls formed from a single sheet metal stamping, said end wall having an upper portion formed by a downwardly bent extension of the top wall and a lower portion formed by a rearwardly bent extension of the front wall, said upper portion and said lower portion lying in a common plane and having interlocking tongues for securing the same together, a pulley shaft rigidly secured to and extending perpendicularly from an intermediate point of said front wall, a back wall for said housing secured to said top wall and having an aperture therein for receiving the free end of the pulley shaft.

8. A drapery traverse rod as set in the portion of the pulley housing telescopically receiving the end of the track is provided with an abutment to limit the movement of the track into the housing and a tab engageable with an aperture adjacent the end of the track for securing the track to the housing.

9. A drapery traverse rod as recited in claim 7 wherein said back wall has -a longitudinally projecting resilient finger pierced therefrom, the end of said finger positioned adjacent the end of said longitudinal slot of said track member to provide a glide stop to prevent the inadvertent removal of the glides from the track.

10. A drapery traverse rod as recited in claim 9 wherein the end of said finger is enlarged and the finger is bent away from the plane of the back wall to shorten the finger whereby the enlarged end thereof overlies wedge of the cover plate to limit the amount the finger may be depressed.

11. A drapery traverse rod comprising an elongated track having a longitudinal open-ended slot in a wall thereof, a plurality of drapery glide members mounted on said track for longitudinal sliding movement along said slot, and a pulley housing providing a channel for telescopically receiving the end of the track, said housing having top, front and end walls formed from a single sheet metal stamping, said end wall comprising an upper portion by a downwardly bent extension no one end of the top wall and a lower portion formed by a rearwardly bent extension of the front wall, said upper portion and said lower portion lying in a common plane and having interlocking projections for securing the same against relative movement in said common plane, a pair of pulley shafts each secured at one end to said front wall, a pair of pulleys each mounted on one of said shafts, a back wall for the housing comprising a retainer plate for said pulleys, having a tab on the upper edge engageable with said slot in said top wall, said plate having a pair of apertures for receiving the free ends of said shafts, a spring forth in claim 7 wherelatch interposed between said shoulders for transmitting forwardly forces on said lower portion directly to said support bracket.

12. A pulley housing for a drapery traverse rod comprising top, front, and end walls formed from a single sheet metal stamping, said end Wall having an upper portion formed by a downwardly bent extension of the top Wall and a lower portion formed by a rearwardly bent extension of the front Wall, said upper portion and lower portion having interlocking tongues for securing the same together, a back wall for said housing secured to the top wall and a pulley shaft rigidly secured to and extending References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1956 McMurray 1694 8/1962 Graber et a1 160346 10 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PULLEY HOUSING FOR A DRAPERY TRAVERSE ROD COMPRISING TOP, FRONT, AND END WALLS FORMED FROM A SINGLE SHEET METAL STAMPING, SAID END WALL HAVING AN UPPER PORTION FORMED BY A DOWNWARDLY BENT EXTENSION OF THE TOP WALL AND A LOWER PORTION FORMED BY A REARWARD BENT EXTENSION OF THE FRONT WALL, SAID UPPER PORTION AND LOWER PORTION HAVING INTERLOCKING TONGUES FOR SECURING THE SAME TOGETHER, A PULLEY SHAFT RIGIDLY SECURED TO AND EX- 